News
Chief Executive chairs social economy debate
Austen Smyth, Chief Executive of The Richmond Fellowship Scotland, chaired a key seminar at this year’s Mental Health Today Scotland Exhibition.
Entitled ‘Engaging with the social economy – commissioners working with the voluntary and not for profit sectors’, the seminar examined opportunities and achievements in the social economy.
Presenters at the seminar included Roddy McDonald, Head of the Social Economy Unit at Communities Scotland, who described how the Futurebuilders Fund has injected £18million of new investment into the social economy and Kevin Hurst, Service Development Officer from West Lothan Council, who examined how the new requirements under Section 26 of the Mental Health Act would effect the social economy.
Commenting on the event, Austen Smyth said:
"It gave me enormous pleasure to chair this seminar. Having previously worked as a Commissioner and now representing one of the country's largest voluntary sector organisations, I have a strong interest in the issues being debated. This is currently a challenging period for the social economy and forums such as this are vitally important in bringing people together to discuss key issues. I'd like to thank the speakers and the audience for making this one of the most lively debates at this year's event."
Mental Health Today Scotland brings representatives from all tiers of the mental health care sector together under one roof. It is a national forum dedicated to people working in and using mental health services across the board.